


The Mako Appreciation Group

by AlexOblivion



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Mako - Freeform, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Paragon Commander Shepard, Pre-Relationship, shepard driving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-02-12
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3337922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexOblivion/pseuds/AlexOblivion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Commander Shepard is many things: a powerful biotic, decorated soldier, and human Spectre among other titles. One thing she is not, however, is a good driver. In fact, her Mako driving is so terrifying that she has caused every member of her ground crew to become physically ill at one point or another. The team has started to see it as a sort of rite of passage to get sick in the Mako, and so when Liara joins up Garrus volunteers to go with her on her first mission planetside. Imagine his surprise when the shy, quiet doctor reveals that she loves the Mako just about as much as Shepard does. </p>
<p>This the first of (hopefully) many one-shots that could maybe be a collection if you squint hard enough. Canon-compliant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Mako Appreciation Group

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Ao3! For too long have I read your stories from afar without contribution! Now I plan to remedy that sad fact with many cheesy one shots! 
> 
> Aka this is my very first fan fiction ever, so be gentle. I don't have a beta at the moment, so if you see any glaring errors feel free to point them out. Hope you enjoy!

The first time Garrus had ridden in the Mako Shepard had had to stop and open the hatch. The turian had been a weird shade of pale grey-green that had alarmed her during one of her frequent glances at him in the rear view mirror, causing her to call back to him. "Garrus, you okay?" She asked.

"All good, Shepard," he had said, but she knew turian bravado when she saw it. Let this play out though, she thought, and kept driving. Everyone had to learn not to be a hero sometime, and maybe cleaning puke out of the Mako would be his lesson. Wrex, on the other hand, didn't agree with her tactics.

"Shepard, you'd better stop," he called up, "the turian's gonna hurl all over my brand new suit." Wrex had looted a Guardian IV hardsuit off a krogan merc at Chora's Den and he was damn proud of it. Shepard had never seen him keep anything so clean.

"I am not!" Garrus protested.

"He says he's fine, Wrex," Shepard said. She was grinning from ear to ear. For some reason, the idea of Wrex getting puked on was a bit funny.

"I swear Shepard if he pukes on my new suit I am going to clean it off with your face," Wrex growled, suddenly a lot closer to the back of Shepard's head than she usually appreciated. "Pull over."

A warning gurgle cut through the Mako from the back and Shepard glanced at Garrus again. He was curled over his stomach and his eyes were clenched closed. They were ascending a particularly steep hill at the moment, and she kept having to tack sideways to find purchase in the loose rock, resulting in a very unpleasant sway- drop feeling. Really, she couldn't blame him for disliking the sensation, you'd have to be as crazy as she or Wrex to enjoy it. Shepard sighed. "Fine, as soon as we hit the top," she said. Wrex nodded and sat back down, albeit as far out of Garrus's line of fire as possible. A couple seconds later the Mako's front tires went over the crest of the hill and the vehicle hauled itself onto the flat top with a last lurch. Apparently, though, that was the final straw for the turian. He lunged for the port, pushing Wrex out of his way, shoulders heaving. He managed to get the door open and his head out before he threw up. Neither Wrex or Shepard leaned over to help him. They were too busy laughing. Shepard at least tried to hide her amusement behind her hands, but when the turian was finished and sat back up she knew he wasn't buying it.

"Congratulations kid, you're part of the club now," Wrex said, clapping Garrus on the shoulder.

Garrus winced and flared his mandibles at them. "Great, just what I wanted. Now can we find me something I can shoot?"

Shepard grinned and got back in the driver's seat. "With pleasure."

They drove in silence for a few minutes, closing in on the beacon on the display that marked the location of an anomaly worth checking out. Then the meaning of Wrex's words must have caught up to Garrus because he asked, "Wait, who else is in this club?" And Wrex was forced to admit, "Everyone except for Shepard." To which Garrus crowed and insisted the krogan tell the story of his first trip in the Mako.

 

So it hadn't surprised Shepard when, after she asked Liara to be on the ground team for a simple probe recovery expedition that Garrus had volunteered to be their third. Shepard had raised her eyebrows at him in the briefing room when he put his hand up to go with them, but he had just flared his mandibles in the expression she was coming to recognize as a turian grin and lifted an eyebrow ridge as if daring her to comment. Shepard had no intention of commenting; she was more interested in looking away from those bright blue eyes before Garrus could realize just what his mischievous expression did to her. Since Liara was the newest member of their team this was her first mission planetside, and Shepard trusted Garrus at her back implicitly, so it was a good team anyways.

The three of them were suited up and burning atmo onto the planet within a half hour. Shepard deployed the stabilizer jets and set them down onto the LZ with only a slight thump, of which she was proud. She loved driving the Mako, and no way would she give up an opportunity to do so, but she was under no illusions about her driving. She knew it wasn't... Smooth. She took a quick glance back into the hold where Liara and Garrus were sitting, only to meet Garrus's blue eyed gaze. He was watching her in the rearview mirror. The second she saw him he turned away though, like she had caught him at something he shouldn't be doing. Shepard took a breath and looked over at Liara.

To her great surprise, the soft-spoken, well mannered, bookish doctor had strapped herself to the bench of the Mako with not one but two straps and was holding the stabilizing handles - oh shit bars, as Wrex and Ashley affectionately called them - with the widest grin Shepard had seen on her so far.

"You okay, Doctor?" Shepard asked. Liara's grin just got bigger.

"Oh yes Commander. That was quite exhilarating. I've read the specifications for this vehicle and it says it can climb nearly vertically? Is that true?" She asked. Shepard grinned, sensing a kindred spirit.

"Yup. Let's see... Direct line to the probe will take us over that ridge range there... Wanna give it a shot?" She asked, pointing out the spiky ridges in question. Liara's eyes widened and she nodded. Shepard cackled and put her foot down, gunning the Mako forward towards the hills. Garrus let out a low whimper at the sight of the low mountains, but kept his eyes on Liara. Shepard could almost hear him thinking that

maybe once they started tacking up the hills...

But the Mako went up the first part of the hill, tilting just about 90 degrees upwards, the wheels grabbing hard for purchase in the slippery rocks, and Liara giggled. Shepard's head whipped around and took in the sight of the normally stoic asari gripping the holy shit handles, her eyes squeezed shut and a continuous stream of laughter falling from her mouth. Garrus was just staring at her, eyes wide and face plates already a little green around the edges. Shepard had to laugh. She continued pushing the Mako back and forth up the hillside until they roared over the top and went sliding down the back of the ridge, and when they reached the bottom she put the vehicle in park and she and Liara sat and laughed until their sides hurt. Garrus got out of the car and walked around for a moment, probably trying to work off the nausea he was no doubt feeling.

Shepard craned around in her seat until she could lock eyes with the asari and grinned at her. Liara wiped her eyes and smiled back. "That was excellent," she said.

Shepard's grin widened. "I know right! It's even better from up here." She gestured to the usually empty copilot's seat. For some reason, the rest of their team didn't like sitting up there. Maybe they thought they were safer in the back. Liara's eyes widened and she gestured towards the empty seat.

"May I?" She asked.

"Be my guest," Shepard said. Liara unbelted and wiggled up to the front of the Mako, where she plunked into the passenger seat and strapped herself back in. When she was ready Shepard started honking at Garrus. The turian climbed back into the vehicle, shook his head at Liara, and off they went.

Shepard and Liara laughed the whole way to the probe, even though Shepard did manage to get the scientist to scream a couple times hen they went flying over a ridge and were suddenly falling further than expected. But even through that the asari looked like she was having a ball, and the rest of the mission went smoothly. Garrus only had to swallow two anti-motion sickness pills, which was average for him, and Shepard impressed herself when she managed to glide the Mako down a ridge without falling off its steep side like she usually did.

After they pulled a prothean data disk out the wreckage the probe had spotted Liara was in, if it were possible, an even better mood, and when Joker swung the Normandy down to pick them up she was sad it was over. As soon as the Mako was safely aboard the Normandy the team piled out and Liara held a hand out to Shepard.

"That was fantastic, Shepard," she said. "We found a prothean data disk and your Mako is great fun." Garrus snorted and Shepard fingered him.

"Glad you liked it, Liara," she said.

"Yeah, you're the only one," Garrus said.

"Really? I can't imagine why. That was like an amusement park ride but better," Liara said.

"I couldn't agree more," Shepard said, "Hey, maybe next time you'd like to try driving?" Garrus groaned, but Liara lit up.

"Really? I would love to! Thank you commander, I look forward to it. I would be happy to be on any future ground missions with you," she said. She shook the prothean data disk at Shepard. "I'd better go analyze this," she said, and headed off towards the elevator. Shepard smiled as she walked away, happy that someone else actually appreciated the possibilities of the Mako. A snort from Garrus drew her attention back to him a second later though, and Shepard took a second to appreciate the view the turian was presenting. He was leaned against the side of the Mako, arms crossed over his chest. It was the perfect picture of Garrus: a little bit unsure, a little bit cocky, a lot of turian. Shepard could feel her cheeks go pink when she realized she was staring at him.

"Well that didn't go as expected," Garrus said, apparently ignoring her awkward staring.

"Never does, Vakarian. Not around on this ship, anyways," she said. For some reason, his eyes swept down and back up her body.

"That so?" He murmured. Shepard, wholly taken off guard by his suddenly deep voice and speculative gaze, did the only thing left available for her at the moment. She turned and retreated. Tactical retreat, she thought, trying to convince herself that she wasn't running. No, tactical retreat she insisted, because a retreat wasn't permanent. A tactical retreat meant she'd be back, and she fully intended to go back for Garrus.


End file.
